1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to electrical switch means and, in particular, to an electrical slide switch of improved construction and simplicity.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Electrical slide switches as typically constructed employ a housing which receives a carrier for the spring contact member. The housing has an elongated slot through which projects a lever. The carrier has a cavity which receives the spring contact member such that when the carrier is moved between distal positions in the housing slot, the spring contact member makes and breaks electrical contact between selected pairs of contact poles disposed along the bottom surface of the housing.
The slide switch commonly employs an assembly of two or more leaf spring members as the spring contact member such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,252. Attempts have been made to obtain a snap action in the making and breaking of electrical contacts. One attempt, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,757, employs a single element spring contact member which is bowed outwardly at a central portion to provide a central protrusion that rides over the contact poles and thereby effects a rocking action to the spring contact member. Another attempt to obtain a snap action is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,953, which employs a complex spring link between the switch lever and the contact carrier.
The aforementioned slide switches generally lack positive action detent mechanisms and, instead, generally rely upon a detenting action between the spring contact member and the contact poles to restrain the carrier in its selected position. Additionally, the slide switches are usually provided with only two carrier positions which are at the distal positions of the lever in the slot of the housing whereby the housing slot serves as a stop for the carrier when the carrier reaches its selected position.